Rain closes shellfish beds in Mass, RI

Shellfish closures are in effect for much of Buzzards Bay and locations along the North and South Shores. Heavy rain also caused flooding across Cape Cod causing problems for drivers.

CAPE COD TIMES

BOSTON — Another casualty of the heavy rain: Shellfish beds in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management announced Tuesday that it was closing most of Narragansett Bay and south coastal ponds to shellfishing until further notice. Officials blamed the closures on sewage overflows and failures at wastewater treatment facilities due to flooding.

Shellfish closures are also in effect for much of Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts, and also locations along the North and South Shores.

Massachusetts state shellfish biologist Michael Hickey says the closures will likely be in effect for several days and areas will not reopen until after testing is done.

DENNISPORT - All Terry Vieira of West Harwich wanted was a bag of popcorn.

But what she got instead was a possible totaled car after it was inundated with flood water this afternoon in a Dennisport parking lot.

Vieira had finished school, where she is working on her General Educational Development (GED) tests, and pulled into the Ocean State Job Lot parking lot from Division Street in Dennisport. She planned to buy a bag of popcorn at the Dollar Tree.

She began to drive her bright red Hyundai Tiburon through a large puddle fed by the recent torrential rain storms. She suddenly felt the car tilt to one side - as if it had dropped into a hole or a depression - and water began poured into the interior through the driver's side door.

Vieira tried backing the car up, but the car couldn't gain traction. She phoned 911 on her cell phone from inside her car.

As a tow truck later pulled her car out, and water poured out onto the ground from the car doorway and engine, Vieira said: "Well, this isn't good." She said she planned to head home as soon as possible because her dog Sophie was long overdue to answer the call of nature and "was probably sitting with all four paws crossed."

– Staff Writer Karen Jeffrey- - - - - - - - - -

LONG-TIME FLOODING IN CAPTAIN'S VILLAGEIn the Captain's Village development in South Yarmouth a long-time flooding problem reared its ugly head again during the storms over the past two weeks.

Captain Besse Road is nearly impassable in spots with basements and backyards in the area are filled with water.

Although neighbors and the town have tried to address the problem in the past, the ultimate solution, according to town officials, is to demolish the homes, something they are reluctant to force on residents in the neighborhood.

- Read more on this story in tomorrow's Cape Cod Times

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WIND ADVISORYThe National Weather Service has a wind advisory in effect until 6 p.m. for the Cape and islands. The region has bee hit by torrential rain most of the day.

Gusts of up to 45 mph are forecast for this afternoon.

A wind advisory is issued when sustained winds are forecast to be 31 to 39 mph or gusts will range between 46 and 57 mph, the weather service says. Winds this strong are capable of downing small tree limbs and branches possibly causing isolated power outages.

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RECORD RAINFALLGov. Deval Patrick says the rain storm battering Massachusetts is expected to be worse than the one that swamped the state two weeks ago because this time the water has nowhere to go.

Patrick said Tuesday that the state has had "two 50-year storms in the course of two or three weeks" which is "unheard of."

He warned that because the ground is saturated it won't absorb rain waters, making the runoff stronger and the current in rivers and streams more dangerous.

The state has as many as 1,000 members of the National Guard at the ready, with hundreds already filling sand bags. Officials are also monitoring 39 dams.

He added that the disaster declaration issued for much of the state on Monday may be expanded once the full extent of the latest storm is known.

The city of Boston has shattered an all-time rainfall record for the month of March.

The National Weather Service said that as of 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, nearly 13 inches of rain had fallen on the city during the month. Up to 2 1/2 inches of additional rain expected by the evening.

Times staffers Karen Jeffrey, Patrick Cassidy and Gregory Bryant contributed to this story.

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